Bones on the Train
by forensicsfan
Summary: The discovery of a set of remains near a rail line bring our dynamic duo out to investigate, all while still adjusting to the news that Brennan is pregnant. BB of course.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them.

**Author****'****s****Note:** This story was somewhat inspired by my commute by train and the opportunity it provides to watch Bones DVDs on my laptop.

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><p><em><strong>Prologue<strong>_

Whitman Brown crouched low in the brush as he tried to make his way towards the train tracks. He could hear a low hum in the distance and he could tell that the northbound Southern Pacific was getting closer. He knew that he had to time things just right as the train came around the bend. A big miss and all he'd lose was his pride, a near miss and he might just lose an arm or a leg - a thought he didn't want to entertain for more than a second. Of course missing at all just wouldn't do either. He had one shot and he wasn't going to mess it up. The rumble came louder now and a steady whistle meant that it was just crossing the intersection near the rail crossing at Delancy Creek. He could almost imagine the clackity clack clack of the wheels as it traveled onto the wooden trestle and on it's way towards him. Just a few more minutes and he'd catch his ride out of this one trick pony town and make his way on to bigger and better things. He wasn't exactly sure where this train was headed, but going north meant places like Philadelphia, Washington DC, or even Boston. A guy like him was meant for places like that and he wasn't going to let anything stand in the way of reaching his destiny.

The leaves crunched underfoot as he made his way closer to the tracks. Twigs dug into his knees and he swatted away a couple of spiders that seemed intent on catching him in their web. It was clear that no one but the squirrels and the occasional coyote had been through this part of the woods in quite some time as he picked his way through some prickly overgrowth. His calves were starting to burn a little from having to crawl through like a woodland critter and he rocked forward onto his hands, his palms lying flat on the cold hard ground as he straightened his legs out one at a time to help stretch them out a bit. He couldn't afford to get a cramp if he was going to make it to the train - he was going to have to be quick, the train only slowed a bit here to comply with a speed zone as it blinked once or twice passing through Cutter's Bluff.

The noise from the train was louder now and he could feel the earthy vibrating under his fingers where he'd taken a runner's stance. He kept his head down so no one on the train could spot him until the last possible second, he readied himself as the massive steel beast slithered around the corner with a ferocious growl, it's wheels gnashing at the rails with a steady squeal.

He was just about to make a run for it and instead lost his footing as a stray briar caught his foot and sent him sprawling into the brush. He cursed and tried to right himself so he'd still have a chance of catching the train, and then as his eyes focused he let out a scream worthy of a six year old girl as he realized he was looking right at what he supposed used to be a human face. He started to scramble backwards and ran right into a tree making him panic even further. He wasn't sure whether to run or scream again, and then as the train came into range, his opportunity clearly gone, he watched as someone who'd already had the fortune to catch a ride on the Southern Pacific pitched what seemed to him to be a full grown dead guy right out of the side of one of those boxcars he had planned to jump into.

He leaned further back into the tree, wishing for it to swallow him up, make him invisible or maybe have it's limbs come to life so they could pick him up and toss him away from the macabre situation he'd found himself in.

The body landed with the sound of crackling brush, broken twigs and a soft thud very near where he'd been crouching just moments before. He sunk lower into the bushes and hoped to hell that no one had seen him sitting there, especially the guy that had dumped the body off the train. He sat frozen for a few minutes and then thought better of it as the train headed around the bend.

As soon as the train was out of view, he launched himself like a bat out of hell and ran for all he was worth back through the prickly underbrush, not even caring that it was scratching him up something fierce. All of his earlier bravado about jumping a train and riding the rails to prove he was a grown man vanished. All he cared about was getting out of these woods. Whatever reason he had before for running away, was completely forgotten as he ran home to find his mama.


	2. Chapter 2

"Boof." The cell phone had jarred Special Agent Seeley Booth out of a sound sleep and he hadn't managed to get his face fully out of the pillow before he'd started to talk. He blinked his eyes open and lifted his head a little more. "Yes, sir. Cutter's Bluff. We'll be right there." A brief pause and he cleared his throat. "Sir, where the hell is Cutter's Bluff? Right. Yes." He clicked off and let out a sleepy groan and planted his face back in his pillow. So much for taking a vacation day.

"Do we have a case?" Even in the semi darkness of morning light Dr. Temperance Brennan couldn't hide the excitement in her tone. "Because if we're supposed to be right there, we will need to get out of bed." She sounded amused at the grunt coming from the other side of the bed.

"Morning to you too, Bones." He let out a sigh and raised himself up on his elbows and stole a glance at her. There was something about the way her hair stuck up every which way that he found entirely irresistible. Although, he was clearly going to have to resist.

She was looking at him with unabashed admiration, her eyes studying the symmetry in his features and how pleasing she found them. "I take it that our day off has been cancelled." Not that she was really complaining, the whole idea of taking off an entire day to do nothing seemed rather pointless, but Booth had insisted that it would be a good idea.

Neither of them made a move to leave the bed, but found themselves drifting towards each other with such an ease that it was a wonder it had taken them so long to get to this place. A leisurely kiss, a slip of a hand up the front of a shirt, another kiss and they both pulled apart smiling. This idea of being able to touch each other any damn time they wanted to was liberating, exciting and still a bit scary that it might all end tomorrow. Only the growing swell of Brennan's belly reinforced that they were in this for the long haul.

"I'm sorry about our day being all messed up, Bones." He looked apologetic even as he seemed to be moving in for another kiss.

She interrupted, her smile toying with the corners of her mouth as her fingers brushed over the fabric of his t-shirt, her hand coming to rest above his heart. "We're never going to make it to where the remains are if we don't get out of bed."

He leaned in anyway, stealing one last kiss before pulling himself out of bed. He glanced back at her with a smirk. "And we should pack a bag for this one. Apparently, Cutter's Bluff is about three hours outside of DC so who knows how long it's going to take."

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><p>The squawk of police radios sounded in the background as Special Agent Seeley Booth made his way towards the cluster of local cops that had reported the situation to the FBI. He could tell from the lack of crime scene tape that Bones was going to be none too happy about no secure perimeter and as his partner in crime solving and in life her current surge of pregnancy hormones were going to have him paying the piper. As if on cue, the tone of her voice told him that these local yokels were going to be asking her for permission to take a leak before the day was over.<p>

"Why haven't the remains been secured?" Dr. Temperance Brennan strode purposefully after Booth, directing her line of questioning to the law enforcement personnel standing around in a rough circle.

"Bones, I was just going to get the skinny on the situation." He wasn't about to tell her to simmer down, if he'd learned anything at all since she'd told him she was pregnant, the woman wasn't nearly as rational as she claimed.

One of the men in the group stepped forward and tipped his hat at the pair. "FBI I presume. I'm Sheriff Martin."

"Special Agent Seeley Booth and this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan of the Jeffersonian." Booth flashed his badge and then gestured at Bones by way of introduction.

"Ma'am." The local lawman got right to the point. "I apologize for not cordoning off the scene, but as you'll see, there ain't much chance anything outside of a coyote or some other critter is going to disturb it." He pointed at the thick brush. "We didn't want to hack all the briars down in case there was evidence."

"That is very wise. Destruction of evidence would definitely hinder progress on determining how the victim was killed." Brennan was pleased that if they hadn't made a perimeter that at least they hadn't significantly disturbed anything either.

"So how are we supposed to get to the remains?" Booth wasn't going to beat around the bush, he'd just spent the last three hours in the Sequoia with Bones getting more and more worked up about the bad habits of small town law enforcement when it came to the proper handling of remains during a murder investigation.

"Just trying to get confirmation from the Federal Railroad Administration that this part of the rail line is shut down before we get access on the tracks. Last thing we need is worrying about a train coming while this all get sorted out." Sheriff Martin commented.

"This is a main north south route isn't it?" Booth hadn't gotten all of the details, but if the remains were near the rail, there were half a dozen scenarios already playing out in his mind.

"Sure is." Martin nodded and then corrected Dr. Brennan. "There are actually two sets of remains that we know of. Local boy was out this morning doing whatever teenage boys do and stumbled onto a skull right about the time the six-forty was coming through town when he saw someone push a body off the train."

Booth's brows shot up. "Two bodies." This would have been one nice little detail to have before he and Bones had come all the way down here.

"So not just skeletal remains then." Brennan did not look pleased. She did not like dealing with bodies that were all fleshy. That's was Cam's expertise and as far as she was aware, Cam was still back at the lab.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I mentioned that when I called in the request for help from the FBI." Martin could tell that somewhere along the line someone had seriously messed up and he was going to find out exactly where the breakdown had occurred and kick some ass.

Brennan immediately assessed the situation and then pulled out her cell phone and put a call through to Cam to set things in motion as she continued talking to Booth. "Cam will want to look at the fresh body and we'll need Hodgins to collect particulates. Also, I believe Wendell could be of some use to collect the remains, especially if they are scattered throughout the brush." She stepped off to the side when Cam picked up the call.

"Sheriff Martin, I sure as hell hope you get that confirmation soon because it's going to take a while to get the rest of my guys down here and that rail line isn't opening up until we complete our investigation." Booth glowered at the other man.

"With all due respect, Agent Booth, the FRA is more than likely give us a window that we can freely access the line before they'll need to open it back up. You want it shut down longer than that you'll have to get your guys in Washington to talk to their guys in Washington." Unfortunately, the Sheriff had been on the scene of a train accident or two in his time and he'd become familiar with the process.

"Fine." Booth huffed out a breath. "Then your guys are going to have to do exactly as Dr. Brennan says if my guys don't get here in time." He gestured towards his partner who was letting Cam know exactly what she needed and how soon she expected them to be at the scene.

"Agent Booth, it will be my pleasure to assist you and Dr. Brennan in any way that I can." He hooked his thumb towards the other officers who looked to be fresh out of some academy somewhere. "These guys may look young, but they'll do whatever you need to have done to assist in the investigation, most of them have done a stint or two in Iraq in the Army before joining the force." Martin had been around the block a few times and he wanted Booth to know he wasn't pulling any punches.

The hint of a smirk played at the edges of Booth's mouth. "Good to know." For now he really didn't care who dropped the ball, he just needed to get the crime scene secured so Bones could do her thing in case their window of access to the rail line ended before the rest of the squints and the FBI techs showed up.


	3. Chapter 3

As it turned out, the FRA took their sweet time about closing down the rail line. Since there was no actual debris or body on the rails and nothing would impede rail traffic, they waited until the bulk of the morning's traffic had gone by. Of course that also meant that by the time Cam, Hodgins and Wendell arrived, Brennan had made the young deputies pick through just about every twig in the twisting swath of briars, trees, and bushes for anything that looked out of place, out of season, or might make the good doctor glare at them if she found out later that they could have collected it now.

As for Booth, he hadn't yet had a chance to talk to the boy who had made the discovery in the first place, he'd been too busy playing referee between Bones and the deputies to leave the scene to interview him. He hoped that once they wrapped things up here that he could, otherwise they were definitely spending the night in Cutter's Bluff or however close to it that they could find a hotel. He was relieved when he finally saw the squints roll up. "Okay, let's get this party started." He strode purposefully towards the vehicle before Bones could make any sort of comment about how a crime scene was no place for a party because of the potential for contaminating evidence.

Hodgins looked at Booth accusingly as he noticed the neat little rows of evidence bags lined up in the back of his SUV. "You didn't leave any particulates for me did you?" What was the point of driving all the way down from DC if he wasn't going to be able to find something that would help blow the case wide open?

Booth held his hands up and stared down the bug man. "Whoa, take it up with Bones. If we hadn't done _something_ she would have requested that the whole area be carted back to the Jeffersonian as is." He twirled his finger around to indicate just how big of an area he was talking about to emphasize his point.

"Trouble in paradise there big guy?" Cam raised a single eyebrow his direction. She knew that once the pair finally jumped into a romantic relationship that they would be charting unexplored territory, she just hoped it would avoid showing up at crimes scenes and spilling into her lab. The swirling hurricane of pregnancy hormones probably didn't help either.

He glowered at Cam with just the hint of a knowing smile he couldn't quite erase. "Things between Bones and I are just fine, thank you very much." And they _were_ going well, it wasn't his fault if the damn Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation had taken their sweet time about having a conversation so they could shut down a main north south line so he could actually do some investigating.

Wendell piped up. "I'll just go help Dr. Brennan." He offered up a pleasant smile and gathered his gear and made his way over to where his mentor was giving direction now that they had full access to the site. He was no idiot, he knew that the sooner Dr. Brennan was happy, the sooner that all of them would be happy.

"Good plan." Booth shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He noticed that both Cam and Hodgins were still standing there looking at him instead of getting to the task at hand. "What?" If he had to start flashing his badge to remind them who was in charge he would. There had been way too much standing around and not making headway for his taste so far today.

"Dude, you still haven't told Max that you knocked up his daughter have you?" Hodgins didn't even flinch when Booth shot him a death glare.

"Don't 'dude' me, and I did not 'knock up' Bones. We're having a baby, okay." This was not a conversation he wanted to have here or ever in fact, even if Hodgins was right. "Besides, Max has been out of town, overseas, or something." Truth was he'd also made no effort to get in touch with Bones' father. He was an FBI Special Agent and he could find him if he really wanted to.

Hodgins just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest and a knowing smirk pulling at his mouth. He had the mother of all father-in-laws and Booth had no excuse as far as he was concerned.

"No need to be crass, Dr. Hodgins, especially at a crime scene." Cam gave him one of those 'I am the boss in no uncertain terms' looks which only served to make him roll his eyes and take his kit and march in the direction of the young deputies.

Booth looked at Cam as if he expected that she was going to march right down and take care of the fresher of the two bodies.

"You can't hide from Max forever, Seeley." Cam wasn't sure what the delay was, but she was nearly certain that after a few friendly death threats that Brennan's father would be thrilled about the news.

"I'm not hiding. You know Bones. When she's ready to tell him, she'll tell him." Of course they were still adjusting to the news themselves, maybe when the water cooler gossip had dissipated, he'd be willing to call Max up and have a man to man talk, well once he knew where he could find him anyway.

"Okay, good luck with that." Cam patted him on the arm and made her way over to Dr. Brennan, Wendell and the man who appeared to be the head of the local law enforcement contingent. The sooner they got to the bodies the sooner she could get back to DC and to the date she had planned for tonight. She was not going to be thrilled if she had to cancel on Paul again.

Brennan glanced up and offered an introduction as Cam joined them. "Sheriff Martin, this is Dr. Saroyan." They were just getting ready to climb up on the track to have an easier means of retrieving remains of both bodies far easier than carting them through the all of the underbrush and potentially disturbing more evidence.

Sheriff Martin tipped his hat. "Ma'am." He took notice of her gear. "Glad to see you've come prepared." He offered a smile. "I'd be happy to help carry some of that for you." He had made the same offer to Dr. Brennan and she had made it clear that she was fully capable of carrying her own equipment.

"Not necessary." Cam smiled at the man as she set her things down. "I'm just going to leave these here until we determine what we actually need in there." She appreciated the offer, but there was no need to take everything to the body until she knew what sort of condition the body was in, then she was all for help carrying the remains out.

"Fair enough." Sheriff Martin smiled. "You just let me know if there is anything that either myself or my deputies can do to assist."

"Perhaps you should see if Booth needs your help." Brennan didn't see any benefit to having the Sheriff following them when his area of expertise was not in collecting remains in various stages of decomposition. That was why she and Cam had been called in. She had appreciated the efforts of his deputies, however, he seemed more interested in peppering her with questions that were not pertinent to the case than in contributing to the actual investigation.

"Of course." The Sheriff tipped his hat again, clearly he had been dismissed.


End file.
